Sue Lani Madsen comments on current events, context, community, country living and conservative values, and tries not to get carried away by alliteration. She is an architect, rancher, writer and volunteer firefighter/EMT from eastern Washington.

Budget Brinksmanship

We are less than three days away from a possible government shut down. Let’s remember how we got here. The Democrat controlled 111th Congress, with a Democrat President in the White House, had a full 9 months to give birth to a budget. Congress missed the September 30th deadline and went into continuing resolution mode, fairly typical no matter which party is in charge. It allows Congress to tidy up budget details before final passage. This time, Speaker Pelosi punted until after the mid-term election results were in, then pushed the job off on the 112th Congress.

We are left with two possible explanations for failure to complete a budget:

Simple Incompetence: The majority party of the 111th Congress was incapable of writing a budget and lacked adequate leadership to complete one of the most basic functions of government. They intended to complete a budget, but just couldn’t pull it off.

Deliberate Intent: The leadership of the 111th Congress made a decision to abdicate their duty and leave the task to the new Speaker of the House of Representatives.

There are two possible motives for intentionally punting the budget to the 112th Congress:

Cowardice: Refusing to face the hard decisions necessary to start making the budget sustainable. Pusillanimously passing the buck looked like a good way to get off the hot seat.

Political Positioning: Believing the Republicans would have the strength of conviction to make the hard choices they were unwilling to make, Democrats could passive-aggressively force a government shutdown and blame it on the Republicans. It’s a strategy patterned on two government shut downs in the 1990’s which helped Bill Clinton win re-election to a second term and might do the same for President Obama.

Although there are undoubtedly at least a few incompetent members of Congress, the 435 members are supported by a staff of earnest, energetic and well educated young men and women. They know the deadlines, they know the challenges, they have the resources, and simple incompetence is too simple an explanation.

That leaves us with Option 2, deliberately choosing to duck their duty. No one who runs for political office can be called a coward. It takes great strength and stamina to stand up to the slings and arrows of a Congressional campaign. To win, it helps to know how to play political games, to assess your opponents’ weaknesses and to exploit them. The most effective way to win a battle is to use your opponents’ strength against them. The renewed commitment of the Republican Party to the values of limited government, fiscal restraint and principled leadership is our greatest strength and our greatest weakness.

I believe the 111th Congress made a deliberate decision to attempt to force a government shutdown, blame the Republicans, and hope to score political points in 2012. Fair enough, its how the game is played – but it only works if the voters are not paying attention. Don’t allow yourself to be manipulated. If your Congressional representative is a Democrat, tell him/her that you can see through the game, and you know who to hold accountable. If your representative is a Republican, send a message of support to hold the line and get this country started back on the road to economic sustainability.